WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Preview

Is this thing on?

It's been a minute...

Help. Me.

It feels like Wrestlemania was ages ago, but to be fair, it was still snowing a week or two before the Greatest Royal Rumble here in Western Pennsylvania. I hibernated until the sun came out in mid June and Money in the Bank happened. That was pretty fun, but now back to our regularly scheduled nonsense.

So, you dropped out from Summer Slam.

What the heck happened? First the event time changes to 6:30 on the official event in May, Kurt announces Brock will not be at Summer Slam, and ol' chicken leg himself shows up on UFC to say he would be back in November to challenge. I wonder how long this was in the works before they ditched the 6 man match and started working on individual feuds?

I am actually really stoked for this PPV, because the card seems great so far. Sincerely.

Rick: HEY LOOK IT'S ME! I'VE BARELY SEEN WRESTLING IN MONTHS BUT HERE ARE MY OPINIONS!!!!! WHAT YEAR IS IT!?

Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley

Jay: A battle of the egos is fun, but, I, myself will have more fun laughing at big man babies whining about Roman in my section upstairs at PPG Paints. If you didn't guess I'd be cheering for Roman, you haven't met me. And I think a win for Roman would set him up nicely to take that pretty red belt from Brock for Braun to cash in on. Good riddance, Brock. Maybe you can focus on leg day for once on those 4 days you actually show up for WWE.

Rick: We get it. You guys like to boo Roman. It's boring now. Speaking of boring, why was anyone excited when Bobby Lashley returned?

Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler ©: 30-minute Iron Man match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Jay: Ramen noodle hair will probably retain because of Drew. The three of these guys plus Roman have been really hinting at a Shield comeback for the last few weeks. If Dean shows up, I'm throwing my beer.

Rick: Dolph Ziggler has probably set some sort of swimming record for how long he's been treading water. What is "extreme" about this show anyway?

Rusev vs. AJ Styles ©: WWE Championship

Jay: It's RUSEV DAY!

Rick: AJ Styles is really great, but it would be a huge moment if Rusev won the title here. So, of course, he won't and AJ will hold it until - I dunno - Brock Lesnar decides he wants to hold two belts. You'd think they'd place a bunch of importance on the WWE Title since it's the oldest of the world titles and, you know, it's actually defended sometimes, but no.

Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss: Extreme Rules match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship

Jay: I am so tired. Ronda absolutely gets involved, and I can't wait to see what happens. She has been working house shows and putting in the time, so I retract what I said about her, because she seems to really want to be involved in WWE. My bad.

Rick: So.... is Nia a face again? What is going on? She had a perfectly good face run leading up to defeating Bliss at WrestleMania and then she turned heel to face Ronda and then turned face again to again go up against Bliss? Nia being a face, beating Bliss, then falling to a MITB cash-in against Bliss would have been a good story without jamming the Ronda Rousey stuff in there. I like Ronda Rousey, but that brief Nia heel turn wasn't needed.

Note: Once again a women's title feud is the most interesting part of the show.

Asuka vs Carmella ©: WWE SmackDown Women's Championship

Jay: Look, regardless of who wins this match I am happy because I love both of these women so much. Mella does not need Ellsworth, she is doing just fine on her own.

Rick: Ellsworth is back? I'm pretty sure I predicted this a while ago. I have no idea. Maybe Charlotte Flair wins somehow?

The B Team vs. Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt ©: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship

Jay: First of all, I love Bo dragging his brother's shitty fashion sense and secondly, I would love to see the wholesome good B Team boys come out with the titles.

Rick: How long is this pay-per-view going to be, seriously???

Team Hell No vs The Bludgeon Bros. ©: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship

Jay: How fitting to bring Kane back to the city where he made such wild history twenty years later. I only hate to say that the old, dilapidated, and sacred Igloo where Hell in a Cell happened, is now a f*cking parking lot and an exit to an HOV lane.

Rick: Daniel Bryan is "injured" during the middle of the match and the whole thing happens without him. Then he's demoted to dark matches and THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR CHEERING FOR HIM DAMMIT!!

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

Jay: I like this match for the underdog feel and I really really hope Finn gets to come out on top. This is the part of the PPV you don't want to check my twitter. Sorry bout it.

Rick: Do I still hate Baron Corbin? Imagine an alternate world where Finn is battling Roman for the Universal Title (remember the Universal Title? No? Me neither.)

Jay: Brother Nero better have some cool paint! Give Shin some hardware!

Rick: Shinsuke deserves a win here - and a title.

Kevin Owens vs Braun Strowman: Steel Cage Match(?)

Jay: As I write this I currently believe this is going to be a Steel Cage match based on the commercials I've seen on TV. I'm all in on KO on this one.

By the way, I will be at this event in person, and having a really great time regardless of who wins anything. Follow me on twitter for cool photos and live commentary, or if you're there, come say hi. Ill be upstairs in section 202 Row B on the end.

Rick: Imagine an alternate world where Kevin Owens is battling Braun Strowman for the Universal Title (remember the Universal Title? No? Me neither.)